Utah Valley State (5-6) vs. Oral Roberts (6-9)

Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma
Date: September 29th
Time: 6:00 p.m. (MST)
Site: Cooper Aerobics Center @ ORU
Internet Broadcast: None
Series Record: First Meeting

OREM, Utah - The Utah Valley State volleyball team will play the last game of its current nine game road swing on Wednesday against Oral Roberts University. After Wednesday's match the Wolverines will have played 11 of their first 12 matches on the road. First serve at Cooper Aerobics Center on the campus of ORU is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. (MST).

Wolverine Update:
Utah Valley State lost in five games, 27-30, 25-30, 30-19, 30-22, 15-10, to the Rebels of UNLV last Saturday at the Cox Pavilion. The Wolverines won the first two games, but UNLV came storming back to win the next three games and take the match.

"After we took the first two games, UNLV was a lot more aggressive than we were," said head coach Sam Atoa. "They started to make a run and we weren't willing to step up and match their intensity."

Deise Borghetti recorded her fourth double-double of the season with a team-high 19 kills, and 15 digs. Middle blockers Jessica Endres and Stephanie McFarland made UVSC's attack more balanced as they tallied 11 and nine kills, respectively. Endres hit an impressive .474 in the match.

Alina Wallauer added nine kills and 13 digs, just missing her team-high seventh double-double of the year by one kill. Setter Lacee Koelliker notched her fifth double-double with 43 assists and a team-high 18 digs.

The Wolverines came out of the gates strong winning the first two games by scores of 30-27, and 30-25. But UNLV decided to refocus and change the momentum by running away with game three 30-19, and game four 30-22. The final game ended in the Rebel's favor 15-10.

"They just out hit us in the last three games," said Atoa.

UVSC's defense played solid, out-blocking the Rebels 10-9, and forcing UNLV into making 40 attack errors. The difference was UNLV got more chances, attacking the ball 44 more times than the Wolverines. Almost every other category was even across the board.

Borghetti Honored Two Weeks in a Row:
Senior right side hitter, Deise Borghetti was named to the Nike Portland Pilot Invitational All-Tournament Team last weekend, and the week before she was named to the Mizuno Classic All-Tournament team. In the Mizuno Classic Borghetti averaged 4.45 kills, and 3.18 digs per game in the tournament. She had match-high kills against UCF (21), and Oklahoma (18).

Double Trouble:
Three different Wolverines have notched double-double performances this year, they are: Alina Wallauer with 6, Lacee Koelliker with 5, and Deise Borghetti with 4.

Endres Named Newcomer of the Week:
Freshman middle blocker Jessica Endres was named the Division I Independent Volleyball Newcomer of the Week for her performance in the BYU/Mizuno Classic September 10-11. The weekly award is given to a true freshman or transfer player.

Endres, a true freshman from Gilbert, Arizona, helped the Wolverines go 2-1 in the Mizuno Classic. UVSC sandwiched wins over Central Florida and Memphis around a loss to Oklahoma. Against UCF Endres was called upon 20 different times, notching 13 kills and a .500 hitting percentage. Against OU she tallied seven kills, and against Memphis, Endres carried the team with a match-high 17 kills, while hitting an impressive .536.

This season, eight Division I Independent schools have grouped together to elect Player of the Week awards. Those teams are Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Texas-Pan American, IPFW, Northern Colorado, South Dakota State, North Dakota State, Providence, and Utah Valley State. Awards are voted on by participating team sports information directors and released each Tuesday.

Borghett, Koelliker Receive Player of the Week Honors:
Utah Valley State right side hitter Deise Borghetti, and setter Lacee Koelliker received Division I Independent -??Player of the Week-?? honors for their performances in the Nike Portland Pilot Invitational September 16-18. Borghetti was honored as the Offensive Player of the Week, and Koelliker was named Setter of the Week.

Borghetti and Koelliker helped the Wolverines to a 2-2 overall record and runner-up finish in the invitational.

Borghetti, a senior out of Medianeira, Brazil, earned All-Tournament honors notching two matches with 20-plus kills (26 against UC Davis, and 22 against Cal Poly-SLO). In four matches she averaged a double-double with 17 kills and 10.25 digs per match. It was the second straight week that Borghetti was named to All-Tournament Teams, having been the only player to be selected in the BYU/Mizuno Classic last week.

Koelliker, a sophomore out of Las Vegas, Nevada, finished the tournament with 172 assists, an average of 10.75 assists per game. Against Cal Poly-SLO she tallied a season-high 59 assists, to go along with 10 digs. Koelliker notched 47 assists and 12 digs in a win over UC-Davis, and in a sweep over Portland State she recorded 38 assists and six digs. Against Portland in the championship match she finished with 28 assists and seven digs.

The awards were the first of the season for both Borghetti and Koelliker, and the second and third awards for UVSC this year.

Last Year's Post Season Honors:
UVSC returns three players who received NCAA Division I Independent honors in 2003. They are: outside hitters Alina Wallauer and Krystal Taylor, and setter Lacee Koelliker.

Wallauer (173 K, 2.37 K/G) received two honors as she was named the D-I Independent -??Newcomer of the Year,-?? and to the All-Independent Second Team. Koelliker (379 A, 4.51 A/G) and Taylor (109 K, 1.85 K/G) were both named to the Independent All-Freshman Team.

Scouting the Opposition:
ORU: The Golden Eagles come into Wednesday's match with an overall record of 6-9 and 1-1 in Mid-Continent Conference play. In a preseason Mid-Con coaches poll ORU was selected as the favorite to win the conference title. Last season ORU had its streak of six consecutive Mid-Con Tournament titles snapped by Valparaiso. Most recently, ORU lost its first Mid-Con match to Valpo on Friday, but came back to sweep Oakland on Sunday. Leading the charge offensively for the Eagles is outside hitter, Ori Zuzic. The sophomore from Porec, Croatia, averages 4.86 kills and 2.45 digs per game.

Up Next:
The Wolverines finally come back home to host Westminster College on Tuesday, October 5th . Game time in the Activity Center is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. (MST).